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I did more surface level research on Francis Henderson Sr's family. I did some basics back in March, which you can see here. Something else that is important for later information is the research into the possible descendants of Francis Henderson Jr, which you can find here. With new evidence that's popped up, I think it's even more likely that Francis Henderson Jr possibly had a child.

To start, as far as I'm aware, there seems to only be evidence of four children by Francis Sr and his second wife, Elizabeth. William Hoggan Henderson (1816 - 1897), Elizabeth Hoggan Henderson (d. 1828 aged nine), Janet Henderson Carruthers (1822 - 1856), and Robert James Henderson (c. 1826 - c. 1914).

William married a woman named Mary (1817 - 1906). The couple only had one child, Anna, born 1849 and died 1855 at the age of six.

Janet obviously married due to her surname, but I couldn't find any information regarding her marriage, or if she had any children. It's likely that the marriage was short-lived and childless, as she died at 34 and was buried with her parents.

Robert has the most sources out of all of his siblings (including Francis Jr). Robert married a woman named Haley Russel Salisbury. Apparently, she was born in France. They had at least three children, a daughter named Mary Phillips Henderson, born c. 1862, and another daughter born in 1865 probably named Isabel Henderson. They had another son, William H Henderson, born c. 1869.

I couldn't find any later sources for Mary or Isabel (but to be completely honest, I didn't look too hard), but I found one for William. He married a woman named either named Bertha or Elizabeth and had four children. Mary, born c. 1892, William, born c. 1895, George, born c. 1900, and....Mahala, born 1906.

Now, if you read the research I did on the supposed descendants of Francis Jr, you probably had the same reaction I did, of "Hmm??? Mahala???" While I initially wrote it off as a wild coincidence, when I went back to all of my previous research on Mahala (who, for the uninitiated, was allegedly the only surviving grandchild of Francis Jr), it actually lines up shockingly well. Mahala, her husband Coleman, and their children all moved to Rhode Island sometime between 1898 and 1900. I even pointed out in my post that the fact Mahala and her family decided to go to Rhode Island, where their supposed great-grandfather's family lived, was interesting. And Mahala isn't exactly a common name, even in this time period.

I don't know. It seems pretty likely to me that Mahala got into contact with her maybe-cousins and decided to go live with them. It's obviously just speculation; it could just be a wild coincidence.

I haven't done any further research because I was just eager to share after being gone for apparently eight months.

#Francis Henderson #francis henderson jr #francis henderson sr #historical john laurens #john laurens #frances laurens #frances eleanor laurens #laurens family

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god I’m so stupid and I forgot to add that only three months after this supposed Francis Henderson died (March 1853), Frances Eleanor Laurens remarried to James Cunnington in June 1853. Given that she was listed as a widow despite their divorce, and the likely event that while her ex-husband was allowed to remarry while she wasn’t, further goes to prove that this is likely the same Francis Henderson she married in 1795.

also what a girlboss, getting remarried at 76 only three months after your ex-husband kicks the can

Francis Henderson Sr’s Family

i’m back for a little bit to share what i’ve learned about Francis Henderson Sr’s wife and kids after he moved to Newport, Rhode Island. i am unsure if any of this information has been discovered and shared in the time i’ve been gone, and if so, i’m sorry for repeating information. i haven’t been on Tumblr since my last post, iirc, and i don’t feel like checking, i’m sorry!

For quick background, in Francis Sr’s letters to John Adams, he says that he is living in Rhode Island and briefly visiting South Carolina. Reminiscences of Abbeville also states that Francis Sr lived in Newport and vacationed in South Carolina during the summer. It also states that after he left Junior in Scotland and moved to Rhode Island, he got remarried and had children.

The first of this information is a Newport census report from 1850.

Listed is a 71-year-old man named Francis Henderson, who it says was born in Scotland, which matches Frances Laurens’ ex-husband. Included in the household is a 53-year-old woman named Elizabeth, a woman named Janet, and a man named Robert, both in their twenties. Also included is a woman named Jane Armstrong, who it says was born in Ireland.

Using this information, I was able to find a Find A Grave connected. The cemetery the grave is connected in is located in Newport.

The grave lists three people, Francis Henderson, his wife Elizabeth Gouffran, and their daughter Janet Carruthers. There is a discrepancy, as their graves say Francis died at 80 on March 24, 1853, and Elizabeth died at 75 on March 7, 1855, while the census states they were 71 and 53 in 1850. Janet’s age is also discrepent, but I’m inclined to believe these are the same people, and I’m more inclined to believe that their graves display their accurate ages. This estimates his birth year as 1773 / 1774, meaning he was 21 or 22 when he married 18-year-old Frances Laurens.

Find A Grave connects this grave to that of a man named William H. Henderson, born in 1816. If this is the son of Francis Henderson and Elizabeth Gouffran, the H likely stands for Hoggan, as another grave found is for a nine-year-old girl named Elizabeth Hoggan Henderson, the “eldest daughter of Francis & Elizabeth G. Henderson.” A grave for a Robert J., who was listed on the 1850 census, is not connected. However, a Newport record does list the death of a Robert James Henderson, born est. 1826 and died in 1914, and is described as the son of Francis Henderson and Elizabeth G. Henderson.

With this knowledge, my personal current belief is that after arriving in Rhode Island, Francis Henderson Sr remarried to Elizabeth Gouffran, and they had at least three children, possibly four or more, including daughters named Elizabeth and Janet, a son named Robert, and possibly another son named William. Unlike Francis Junior, all of these children remained in Newport, Rhode Island. There is no evidence that, unlike their father, they vacationed in South Carolina as they are not mentioned in Reminiscences despite it otherwise being very information heavy. They likely never left / moved away from Newport, unlike their older half-brother.

#i love this woman so much

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Francis Henderson Sr’s Family

i’m back for a little bit to share what i’ve learned about Francis Henderson Sr’s wife and kids after he moved to Newport, Rhode Island. i am unsure if any of this information has been discovered and shared in the time i’ve been gone, and if so, i’m sorry for repeating information. i haven’t been on Tumblr since my last post, iirc, and i don’t feel like checking, i’m sorry!

For quick background, in Francis Sr’s letters to John Adams, he says that he is living in Rhode Island and briefly visiting South Carolina. Reminiscences of Abbeville also states that Francis Sr lived in Newport and vacationed in South Carolina during the summer. It also states that after he left Junior in Scotland and moved to Rhode Island, he got remarried and had children.

The first of this information is a Newport census report from 1850.

Listed is a 71-year-old man named Francis Henderson, who it says was born in Scotland, which matches Frances Laurens’ ex-husband. Included in the household is a 53-year-old woman named Elizabeth, a woman named Janet, and a man named Robert, both in their twenties. Also included is a woman named Jane Armstrong, who it says was born in Ireland.

Using this information, I was able to find a Find A Grave connected. The cemetery the grave is connected in is located in Newport.

The grave lists three people, Francis Henderson, his wife Elizabeth Gouffran, and their daughter Janet Carruthers. There is a discrepancy, as their graves say Francis died at 80 on March 24, 1853, and Elizabeth died at 75 on March 7, 1855, while the census states they were 71 and 53 in 1850. Janet’s age is also discrepent, but I’m inclined to believe these are the same people, and I’m more inclined to believe that their graves display their accurate ages. This estimates his birth year as 1773 / 1774, meaning he was 21 or 22 when he married 18-year-old Frances Laurens.

Find A Grave connects this grave to that of a man named William H. Henderson, born in 1816. If this is the son of Francis Henderson and Elizabeth Gouffran, the H likely stands for Hoggan, as another grave found is for a nine-year-old girl named Elizabeth Hoggan Henderson, the “eldest daughter of Francis & Elizabeth G. Henderson.” A grave for a Robert J., who was listed on the 1850 census, is not connected. However, a Newport record does list the death of a Robert James Henderson, born est. 1826 and died in 1914, and is described as the son of Francis Henderson and Elizabeth G. Henderson.

With this knowledge, my personal current belief is that after arriving in Rhode Island, Francis Henderson Sr remarried to Elizabeth Gouffran, and they had at least three children, possibly four or more, including daughters named Elizabeth and Janet, a son named Robert, and possibly another son named William. Unlike Francis Junior, all of these children remained in Newport, Rhode Island. There is no evidence that, unlike their father, they vacationed in South Carolina as they are not mentioned in Reminiscences despite it otherwise being very information heavy. They likely never left / moved away from Newport, unlike their older half-brother.

#francis henderson #Francis Henderson Sr #Francis Henderson Jr #frances laurens #Frances Eleanor Laurens #frances laurens henderson #historical john laurens #John Laurens #laurens family

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(small tw) i’m very sorry for the delay in Edward’s story. my grandma might have cancer so my head hasn’t really been in the right place to transcribe the trial. dw, it’ll be coming soon!

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I did (admittedly surface) level research on the possible grandchildren of Francis Henderson Jr. Whether or not they are his grandchildren, I think it’s still interesting to learn about and tomorrow or in the following days I’ll be posting something about Edward, his wife, and daughter, that I think is important to understanding the political climate of race in 1870s.

An 1870 census includes Edward (Francis’ possible son), a woman named Hattie, and two children: Mahala, five, and Anna, three. I assumed Hattie was Harriett, Edward’s wife, since she’s younger than Edward and thus not his mother Hattie McLaren. However, her birth year conflicts with a later census saying Harriett was born four years later, and I’m more inclined to believe that latter census. All four are described with an outdated term for mixed race.

An 1880 census includes Edward again, along with Harriett, his wife. Edward’s job his listed as a carpenter (although we already knew that) and Harriet is a seamstress. Also listed in the census is 75-year-old Hattie McLaren, Edward’s mother. She’s listed as a widow. Also included is Mahala, now a 14-year-old student. Unfortunately, Anna is not listed, but a two-year-old girl named Isabel, labelled Edward’s daughter, is. I couldn’t find any further sources for either Anna or Isabel. It says that Edward and Harriet cannot read or write. Again, everyone in the family is described as mixed race.

This where the sources for Edward stop, but Mahala’s continue. I’m not going to list all of the sources because there’s a lot, but I’ll list a census and give a rundown. She was married by 1888 to a man named Coleman Dunlap (b. 1860), and had seven sons (Edward (, James, Cecil, Ernest, Harold, and Jessie), and one daughter (Eunice). Sometime between 1898 and 1900, the family moved to Rhode Island. Interestingly, this is where Francis Henderson Sr, who would’ve been Mahala’s great-grandfather, lived. The 1900 census (listed below) also gives us some nice information such as Mahala’s birth year, 1865. Unlike previous census reports, where there were more descriptions for race, people are only labelled as white or black, with Mahala, her husband, and their children falling into the latter label. Coleman Dunlap would end up passing away sometime before 1930, as the 1930 census says she’s a widow living with her unmarried son Harold. They are labelled black. A 1935 census says that Mahala is able to read and/or write English, and that at some point in her life she suffered from Measles. Interestingly enough, she’s actually labelled white. The only labels were white, black (though it’s put as an outdated term), and other. In the 1940 census, she is still living with Harold, although this time Harold’s aunt is also living with them. Unlike the 1930 census, both Mahala and Harold are labelled white. The 1950 census includes Mahala, Harold, Harold’s aunt, and a lodger. This time, Mahala and Harold are labelled with an outdated term for black. Apparently, she died in 1960, but I haven’t found a proper source for this. If that’s true, she would’ve lived to an astonishing 96-years-old.

Later, I want to bring attention to a story in “Hurrah for Hampton!” I was going to include it here, but it complicated the post so I’ll try to get around to that tomorrow or in a few days. Whether or not Edward, Mahala, and the rest of their family are descendants of Francis Henderson Jr aside, I feel that this story is really important in seeing the brutality against people of color in the 1870s, especially when politics got in the way. Just giving the rundown, in it, Edward is threatened by a trial-justice with a pistol, his daughter Mahala, a ten-year-old, is whipped, and his wife Harriett was threatened with being whipped.

I don’t want to end this post on that note, so I’ll add a nice little fact I found. Mahala’s only daughter, Eunice, died at 20/21 in 1915. Later that year, Mahala’s oldest son Edward had his first daughter, and he named her Eunice. I thought that was bittersweet. This also brings up that, again if Edward was Francis’ son, there are descendants of John Laurens still alive today.

#Francis Henderson #Francis Henderson Jr #Francis Henderson Sr #historical john laurens #John Laurens #frances laurens #Frances Eleanor Laurens

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i just realized every description we have of Francis Henderson Sr describes Big Ed

Frances Laurens, a beautiful, rich young woman, married a slightly taller Scottish Big Ed

#its been in front of our faces this entire time #tragic #i have lost sm respect for Fanny #francis henderson jr #francis henderson sr #francis henderson #frances laurens #frances eleanor laurens

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Adding a few more details to this. According to “Reminiscences of Abbeville (etc.)” Francis Henderson Jr “boarded with the McLaren family.” According to a letter Francis Sr wrote to John Adams, Francis Jr first arrived in Charleston in 1821, “Myself and Son, soon afterwards, arrived here, to spend the remainder of the Winter and Spring, and attend to the affairs of my Family, in the State of South Carolina.” The letter is dated 6 April 1822, and Francis Sr continues with “... at Newport, Rhode Island,—to which place, please God, I shall return the end of this or early next month. “ “Reminiscences” stated that Francis Sr lived in Rhode Island, “spending the winter in Charleston and Abbeville,” and would board with the McLarens with his son when he did stay. It doesn’t say when Francis Jr started living full-time in Abbeville exactly, but that after graduating from a German college he “traveled a year or two. He then came to Charleston and read law with Jas. L. Pettigrow...” likely referring to James Louis Petigru, a lawyer who lived in Abbeville County. It says that Francis Jr only left Abbeville three times (although this is in the time the author knew him, which was after 1834).

Hurrah for Hampton says that Edward Henderson was born in 1828. From my understanding, the claim that Edward was Francis Jr.’s son isn’t even sited, as the source “157″ is a census from 1880 about Edward’s household. Despite that, Francis Jr could have fathered him. He was in the right place and living with the people it says he was living with. If Francis Jr is Edward’s father, it’s completely possible that John Laurens’ might have descendants living today, as it says that Edward had a wife named Harriet and at least one child, a daughter named Mahala, probably born in 1866.

Are there still descendants of any of the Laurens siblings still alive like you know how Hamilton still has descendants alive.

From what I've seen, all the surviving Laurens kids ( Patsy, Harry, and Polly ) had long lasting lines of families, and there are likely living descendants to this day; but I can't really find any persons in particular. The only one whose bloodline stopped rather shortly; is John Laurens, because his grandson, Francis Henderson Jr, didn't have any children.

#Francis Henderson Jr #Edward Henderson

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one time a teacher was giving a student a rundown of WWII and i was correcting/adding facts and eventually a student-teacher in the room went "wow frankie, you know a lot, are you a history buff?" and i said "no, i'm jewish" and in retrospect that's probably the funniest thing i've ever said

#not anything history related ik #but her and i talked about it like half an hour ago and had a laugh #this is my legacy #jewish #judaism

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reblog this if you’re jewish or your blog is a safe space for jewish people

in light of recent events as well as a new rise in creating nazi ocs I think this post is an important one to have on your blog if you stand behind your jewish followers or are jewish yourself.

#i posted something about antisemitism last night but having it up made me uncomfortable #anyway i'm jewish #please protect your jewish friends

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by the way, i forgot to mention it on that post but the portrait of Elizabeth Rutledge confirms Harry Laurens had dark hair because their sons Edward and John were brunettes

#good job historical laurens artists you got Harry's hair right #historical john laurens #henry laurens jr #harry laurens

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You once mentioned Laurens' sexism, so was he like especially sexist or smt, or just like every second man back then?

From my judgement, he was just as sexist as the next man of his day, but I will argue he was a bit more strict on the subject. It is obvious he thought women were not equeal to men, and that men were superior. And he displays a lot of toxic masculinity.

Laurens wrote a letter to his father, sometime either during the Battle of Newport, or the Battle of Rhode Island. It was after the French came to the American coast to become an ally to the beleaguered Continental Army and help fight against the British. Although there was a lot of tension between the Americans and the French, and Laurens uses a rather misogynistic analogy to explain this — claiming women only debated dance, while men discussed the greater revolution;

“—this measure gave much umbrage to the french officers, they conceived their troops injured by our landing first, and talked like women disputing precedence in a country dance, instead of men engaged in pursuing the common interest of two great Nations.”

(source — John Laurens to Henry Laurens, [August 22, 1778])

There is also a case of Laurens hating a spie that was a woman they came across. There was many British deserters that Laurens and his men found, and they would usually give intell on the British army. But when Eliza Clitherall came along, and proved useful — Laurens looked down on her, and thought she was not of much use. While there is the possibility that Laurens disliked her because she was not a good informant, it is more likely that he thought she would not be useful because she was a woman, because there wasn't complaints of her value from any others;

“Loyalist informants from Charleston, a valuable source, frequently refused to give something for nothing.  Laurens furnished them supplies in return for their testimony.  More representative of his spies was Eliza Clitherall […] Clitherall gave Laurens frequent reports of British activity in Charleston.  Laurens regarded Clitherall as an irritant and even suggested to Greene that her services be discontinued.  Still, she continued to provide intelligence, and her efforts proved at least partially successful.”

(source — John Laurens and the American Revolution, by Gregory D. Massey)

This is also heavily present in his relationship with his sisters. As Laurens played an active role in assisting his siblings with their education, so he took it upon himself to also help his sisters become pious and appealing women (How very thoughtful of him,,,). Which didn't even stop there, as Henry Laurens was also quite misogynistic and there are even quotes of him telling Patsy she needs to limit herself, or focus more on training for her domestic wife life when she marries. So, the Laurens girls faced a lot of sexism from their male family members.

In a letter form Laurens to Henry, Laurens talks of how he believes Martha (Or Patsy) should work on her womanly traits, he implies that Martha must work on herself to fit into society's mold of an “ideal” woman, or else she will end up having no value;

“My Sister Patty from her retired Disposition does not appear to have either great opportunity or Ambition to improve in the matters which you allude to; tho’ she possesses in an eminent degree those Qualities which will render her valuable in Society, and lead her to her Duty in all the relative Situations of Life, she is deficient in that Grace of Deportment with gives Splendour to every Action, and increases Respect for the Virtue which it accompanies, but this she will acquire by proper Attention, her walk her Tone of Voice needed Reformation, at my earnest Request she has taken pains and not unprofitably, with the latter, she has good Sentiments and couches them in well chosen words, but they frequently lose their Effect, by being conveyed in an undecided Tone.”

(source — John Laurens to Henry Laurens, [April 26, 1776])

Continuing on with Patsy, Laurens also thought women were just naturally fearful and pathetic in comparison to men. As he challenged his sister to ride faster on a horse carriage ride of theirs to prove if she was so “woman-ish” or not, to which she gladly proved him wrong;

“John Laurens, from whom she had been for some years separated. Being older, he had taken great delight in forwarding her education, and particularly, in forming her mind to be superior to the common accidents of life, and the groundless fears of some of her sex. To ascertain whether his labors had been successful or not, he bribed the postillion to drive very rapidly, and at the same time, without discovering his views, narrowly watch- ed her countenance, to observe whether there were any changes in it expressive of womanish fears, at the novel scene, so totally different from all her former travelling in the low, flat, stoneless country of Carolina. On the termination of the experiment, to his satisfaction, he announced to his unsuspecting sister his congratulations, that ‘he had found her the same Spartan girl he had left her.’”

(source — Memoirs of Eminently Pious Women of Britain and America, Volume 1, edited by David Francis Bacon)

But also, since growing up in such a environment, Polly - Laurens's youngest sister - was quite aware of gender equality from a very young age. There is a letter where Laurens mentions that Polly wanted the same freedom as her older brother, Harry, and to be able to wear breeches. Since she and Harry were coming of age, and would have started to be treated much differently and beginning to be prepped for their different lives. Polly; likely a house wife — and Harry; a successful man. But the attitude that Laurens treats this entire matter with is dismissive, and even laced in a tone of arrogant fond laughter. Laurens says Polly talked with “as much Gravity as Innocence,” meaning he viewed the ideology of equality between men and women as childhood innocence, like this whole endeavor was just some blissful nonsense from a child without any true understanding of how the world works. Truly, he was took this all as if it was not to be taken seriously;

“Sweet little Polly is the admiration of every body_ we both agree that my Aunt does not exercise Authority enough over her, but it can scarcely be wonder’d at, a Person with my Aunts Circumstances with respect to Polly, would rather wish the world to say she is too indulgent, than to severe; and a Desire to avoid one extreme, often leads to another which ought equally to be shun’d, but with all my Aunts Mildness, Polly thinks the Restraint incident to her Sex, very mortifying, and asked one day with as much Gravity as Innocence, if the would not let her wear Breeches & become a Boy, She envied Harry his freedom very much and would wish to be upon the same footing with him, when she was told that this Change would not be effectual, she proposed what she thought would infallibly answer the purpose, to be re-christen’d, and have a male Name.”

(source — John Laurens to Henry Laurens, [April, 1776])

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I would like to know what were Laurens’ flaws, I know that he was reckless and was very hard on himself, but as you said he had as many flaws as virtues so I would like to know those flaws.

I'm not sure whether bringing up his misogyny is a fair point or not, because technically that was the view of the day, and so many American historical figures were all sexist assholes. So, I'll just go to some other points and if anyone wants to hear about Laurens's sexism ask that separately.

To start off with recklessness; everyone applauds Laurens for his rash behavior, and claims it to be an act of heroic bravery. But has anyone considered the amount of lives he put at stake and even had killed due to his temerity? In the consequence of his rebelling against orders and rushing straight ahead risked and lost several lives. Which I don't think he ever truly learned how his actions affected others, as it was a continuous pattern of his throughout the war.

Next is Laurens's messy relationship with slavery; we all know Laurens was an abolitionist, and was headstrong in abolishing slavery. But a peak into his personal life actually displays his hypocrisy.

Laurens never technically owned any slaves for himself, but he did have two slaves at his disposal during he war that were his father's, who sent them to him to act as valets. Only one has a confirmed name, which was Shrewsberry. But by many accounts, they were treated rather poorly by Laurens. As Laurens writes to his father saying that Shrewsberry can go without clothes for the winter;

“Berry received a Hunting shirt and a Check shirt, if there be any any difficulty in getting him Winter Cloths, I believe he can do without.”

(source — John Laurens to Henry Laurens, [December 15, 1777])

Which is definitely an eye-glaring note, because throughout Laurens's correspondence with his father, he mentions clothes repeatedly. Yet, he gets irritated when Shrewsberry gets his hat stolen and blames him for it, acting as if Shrewsberry wasn't properly taking care of his things;

“As we shall probably move to-morrow, I write to inform you that I must be obliged to use your horses and servant farther on there having been no possibility of supplying myself with these articles here. Shrewsberry says his hat was violently taken from him by some soldiers, as he was carrying his horses to water. If James will be so good as to send him his old laced hat by the bearer, I hope he will take better care of it.”

(source — John Laurens to Henry Laurens, [August 21, 1777])

Also, Thaddeus Kosciusko even writes saying that Laurens's slaves were naked at the time of Combahee;

“Kosciuszko was disgusted when he saw the rebel soldiers strip Laurens's dead body of valuables and divide the possessions among themselves. The Pole wrote to Greene saying that it was ‘mean, low thinking,’ to take Laurens's belongings, and that ‘the Devil himself would not take from him.’ Kosciuszko followed up with another letter to Greene suggesting that Laurens's clothes be given to his black aides because the ‘two negroes belonging to L.C. Laurence [...] are nacked they want shirts, jackets, Breeches and their skin can bear as well as ours good things.’"

(source — The Peasant Prince: And the Age of Revolution, by Alex Storozynski)

So, obviously Laurens was cutting his valets' resources or needs because he felt it wasn't truly needed — while happily supplying himself and other white soldiers their necessities. There is also this letter from Laurens to his father that just raises so many red flags to me;

“I would bring about a twofold good, first I would advance those who are unjustly deprived of the Rights of Mankind to a State which would be a proper Gradation between abject Slavery and perfect Liberty—and besides I would reinforce the Defenders of Liberty with a number of gallant Soldiers—Men who have the habit of Subordination almost indelibly impress’d on them, would have one very essential qualification of Soldiers—I am persuaded that if I could obtain authority for the purpose I would have a Corps of such men trained, uniformly clad, equip’d and ready in every respect to act at the opening of the next Campaign—”

(source — John Laurens to Henry Laurens, [January 14, 1778])

First of all, the “proper Gradation between abject Slavery and perfect Liberty,” implies that - even though Laurens did want to free the slaves - he did not think that black people should have the “perfect Liberty” that white people would have. Second, Laurens writes, “Men who have the habit of Subordination indelibly impress’d on them,” which is basically; “They're used to taking orders and listening, so they'll make great soldiers.” I understand times were tough in the Continental army, but Laurens taking advantage of the cruelty slaves endured because they've been forced into it is just fucked up.

“I confess indeed that, the minds of this unhappy species must be debased by a Servitude from which they can hope for no Relief but Death—and that every motive to action but Fear, must be nearly extinguished in them—”

(source — John Laurens to Henry Laurens, [February 2, 1778])

‘Species’ is a pretty racist term, but I'll excuse it because later in the letter Laurens uses the term race. Either way, Laurens claims that black people do not have the capabilities or brain comprehension as white people do, admittedly, he does fault slavery for this. Which is - in some sense - correct, as slaves weren't allowed education. But it still implies a sort of inferiority, which he displays again just a bit later;

“I have had the pleasure of conversing with you sometimes upon the means of restoring them to their rights—When can it be better done, than when their enfranchisement may be made conducive to the Public Good, and be so modified as not to overpower their weak minds—”

‘Weak minds’, huh?

Overall, Laurens was a firm believer in abolishment. But it is evident that the prejudice mindset of a wealthy, white, plantation owner still lingered in Laurens's behavior. Likely because he was still raised in that environment, and with folks around him like that. With this ideology instilled in his mind, it clearly still shined through. Not to mention, Laurens had this sort of “savior white complex”, where he believed he was going to be the hero that lead the poor, helpless slaves to their freedom as a reward. Which is where you see Laurens saw black people as mentally inferior just because they likely weren't as “sophisticated” as the white people of the day prided themselves as.

So, even though Laurens had some good virtues, and was quite a selfless man — he still had racist ideologies, and wasn't a perfect guy. As all historical figures are.

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Are there still descendants of any of the Laurens siblings still alive like you know how Hamilton still has descendants alive.

From what I've seen, all the surviving Laurens kids ( Patsy, Harry, and Polly ) had long lasting lines of families, and there are likely living descendants to this day; but I can't really find any persons in particular. The only one whose bloodline stopped rather shortly; is John Laurens, because his grandson, Francis Henderson Jr, didn't have any children.

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rip philip hamilton, you would’ve loved arctic monkeys

#and p!atd #philip hamilton #rip my dude

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The christening certificate for the majority of Martha Laurens Ramsay and David Ramsay’s kids (note that the second child down, 10/8/1791 David, is not their child). This doesn’t include all of their children, as it doesn’t mention Eleanor or Martha “Patty,” and it doesn’t mention John, David’s son from his second marriage.

The only odd thing is the last four kids. Martha isn’t mentioned, but she would’ve already been dead at that point. If they were her kids, they would’ve probably been born after 1802 William, and christened after her death (note that they were all baptized on the same day). It’s also plausible these are the kids of another David Ramsay, since they already had a daughter named Catharine in April of 1792, who lived until 1876. 

#martha laurens #martha laurens ramsay #david ramsay #frances laurens #historical john laurens

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OH MY GOD YES another person who is gay for JCH

Btw that background is 10/10

it’s IMPOSSIBLE not to be

i can’t tell if i’m proud or ashamed that i made it

(edit to add since i forgot to mention) i discovered your blog i think last night and literally spent all night going through your posts because there is some juicy information in there. thank you for existing 👍🏻